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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For the unit in other games of the series, see Fire Ship.

Warship that spews fire at close range.
—In-game description

Spews fire at other ships. Good at sinking galleys.
—In-game description

The Fire Ship is a ship in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Dock once the Castle Age is reached. It is a ship with a "flamethrower" mounted on the bow, and has an attack bonus against other ships. It must come in very close to enemy ships in order to attack, upon which is spews fire at very fast rate - about 4 times per second. Fire Galleys are automatically upgraded to Fire Ships when the War Galley upgrade is researched.

Fire Ships can be further upgraded to Fast Fire Ships for most civilizations in the Imperial Age. For the Chinese, they are upgraded to Dragon Ships instead.

Tactics[]

The Fire Ship has +20 hit points, +1/+1 attack, +2 anti-fishing ship attack, +2 pierce armor, +0.05 movement speed, and -29 seconds of training time. As the War Galley upgrade also grants equally impactful buffs to the Galley and Demolition Raft, it is worth picking up immediately.

Fire Ships are good counters to most ships and deal damage quickly. They may even be employed in shallows against ground troops to good effect. However, Demolition Ships are excellent counters to Fire Ships due to the proximity with which a Fire Ship has to attack. Korean Turtle Ships are also threats to Fire Ships due to their low range. The low range also means that War Galleys have a much easier time engaging en masse, so in large-scale engagements, War Galleys will prevail. Fire Ships have a very rapid attack speed but a low attack per "flame", they also have substantial anti-ship armor allowing them to easily close the distance between other ships and tear into enemy ships while under fire. Despite its extremely effective attack and high armor, the Castle Age Fire Ship is slower than a War Galley. With proper micromanagement, Galleys can use hit-and-run tactics against them.

Fire Ships are mostly used as a support unit for other ships as the Fire Ships can rapidly sink masses of Galleons, Cannon Galleons, and other Fire Ships. Fire Ships are a great escort for Transport Ships along with Galleons.

Further statistics[]

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Transport Ships, Fishing Ships, buildings in the shoreline, melee units in the shallows, War Galleys, Cannon Galleons, Rams
Weak vs. Demolition Ships, Turtle Ships, Longboats, towers, Castles, ranged siege units on the shoreline
Upgrades
Range Greek Fire (+1, Byzantines only)
Armor Careening (+0/+1)
Carrack (+1/+1, Portuguese only)
Speed Dry Dock (+15%)
Conversion defense Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
Heresy (die upon getting converted)
First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
Creation speed Shipwright (+54%)
Train cost Shipwright (-20% wood)

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

The Age of Kings[]

  • Fire Ships have 100 hit points.
  • Fire Ships have 6 pierce armor and 4 ship armor.
  • Shipwright reduces the wood cost by 20%.
  • Chinese: Fire Ships are generic and cannot be upgraded further.

The Conquerors[]

The Forgotten[]

The African Kingdoms[]

Rise of the Rajas[]

  • Fire Ships have 6 pierce armor again.

Definitive Edition[]

The Three Kingdoms[]

  • With update 141935, Fire Ships move +5/+10% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age and can be upgraded to Dragon Ships in the Imperial Age.

History[]

The Byzantines alone in the West carried forward the ancient traditions of ship building into the Middle Ages. Their improvement over the trireme was the fire ship, a narrow and fast warship powered by both oars and lateen sails. The fighting power of these ships was provided partly by marines, archers, and catapults, but the secret weapon of the Byzantine navy was Greek fire. This extremely volatile mixture was squirted out of hoses from the bow of the fire ship and ignited on contact with air. Fire was a devastating weapon against wooden ships and the enemies of the Byzantines could not stand up to fire ships spraying Greek fire. Other civilizations acquired the secret of Greek fire at times, but it was so closely guarded and dangerous to use that it is lost today.

Trivia[]

  • The Fire Ship is based on the Byzantine Dromon galleys and their Greek fire siphons. However, it is incorrectly depicted without oars.
  • The Fire Ships are the only units in the game without an integer range.
  • The Fire Ship and the Fast Fire Ship are the only units in the game to deal positive melee and pierce damage both.
  • Fire Ships deal bonus damage against the cheat unit Saboteur (since The Conquerors) because it is in the same unit class as ships.

Gallery[]

Units in Age of Empires II
Civilian Villager · Trade Cart · Fishing Ship · Trade Cog · King
Miscellaneous Transport Ship · Monk · Petard
Infantry Militia Man-at-Arms Long Swordsman Two-Handed Swordsman Champion
Spearman Pikeman Halberdier
Archer Archer Crossbowman Arbalester
Skirmisher Elite Skirmisher
Hand Cannoneer
Cavalry Archer Heavy Cavalry Archer
Cavalry Scout Cavalry Light Cavalry Hussar
Knight Cavalier Paladin
Siege weapon Battering Ram Capped Ram Siege Ram
Mangonel Onager Siege Onager
Scorpion Heavy Scorpion
Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet
Siege Tower
War ship Galley War Galley Galleon
Fire Galley Fire Ship Fast Fire Ship
Demolition Raft Demolition Ship Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon Galleon Elite Cannon Galleon
Regional
Infantry Eagle Scout Eagle Warrior Elite Eagle Warrior
Fire Lancer Elite Fire Lancer
Archer Elephant Archer Elite Elephant Archer
Cavalry Camel Rider Heavy Camel Rider
Battle Elephant Elite Battle Elephant
Steppe Lancer Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotl Warrior
Armored Elephant Siege Elephant
Hei Guang Cavalry Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry
War ship Dromon
Lou Chuan
Siege weapon Rocket Cart Heavy Rocket Cart
Traction Trebuchet
Unique
Monk Missionary · Warrior Priest
Infantry Berserk · Chakram Thrower · Condottiero · Dismounted Konnik · Flemish Militia · Gbeto · Ghulam · Huskarl · Jaguar Warrior · Jian Swordsman · Kamayuk · Karambit Warrior · Legionary · Liao Dao · Obuch · Samurai · Serjeant · Shotel Warrior · Teutonic Knight · Throwing Axeman · Urumi Swordsman · Warrior Priest · White Feather Guard · Woad Raider
Archer Arambai · Camel Archer · Chu Ko Nu · Composite Bowman · Conquistador · Genitour · Genoese Crossbowman · Grenadier · Fire Archer · Imperial Skirmisher · Janissary · Kipchak · Longbowman · Mangudai · Plumed Archer · Ranged Ratha · Rattan Archer · Slinger · Xianbei Raider · War Wagon
Cavalry Ballista Elephant · Boyar · Camel Scout · Cataphract · Centurion · Coustillier · Imperial Camel Rider · Iron Pagoda · Keshik · Konnik · Leitis · Magyar Huszar · Mameluke · Monaspa · Melee Ratha · Mounted Trebuchet · Savar · Shrivamsha Rider · Tarkan · Tiger Cavalry · War Chariot · War Elephant · Winged Hussar
Siege weapon Houfnice · Hussite Wagon · Organ Gun
War ship Caravel · Dragon Ship · Longboat · Thirisadai · Turtle Ship
Hero Cao Cao · Liu Bei · Sun Jian
Miscellaneous Flaming Camel
For different types of units, see Category:Unit types (Age of Empires II).